The March to the River

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THE MARCH TO THE RIVER: FROM THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE TO HELENA, SPRING 1862 by Robert G. Schultz (Camp Pope Publishing).

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"This is the first detailed study of the campaign of Samuel R. Curtis’s Army of the Southwest following its important victory at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas (March 7-8, 1862). After the withdrawal of Earl Van Dorn’s Confederate army from northwest Arkansas, General Curtis’s next obvious move was to capture Little Rock, the state capital. Poor roads, raging rivers, tenuous supply lines, and harassing Rebel cavalry made for a meandering march back up into Missouri, then down into Arkansas along the White River. For the first time a Union army had to depend on foraging off the enemy’s resources for much of its sustenance—a feat repeated more famously two years later in General William T. Sherman’s “March to the Sea.” Ultimately, Curtis had to abandon his attempt at Little Rock and instead led his army through to Helena, arriving in mid-July. Bob Schultz has thoroughly researched his book in private archives, period newspaper accounts, published and unpublished soldiers’ diaries, letters, and memoirs, and the Army and Navy Official Records. Includes the maps, many published for the first time, drawn by Lyman G. Bennett of the 36th Illinois Infantry."

454 pp., illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-1-929919-60-4, PB (2014); ISBN: 978-1-929919-60-4 $24.95